HAHN'S PROMISE LEADS TO DILEMMA SCRAMBLE IS ON TO REPLACE SUNSHINE.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

With chances of Mayor James Hahn fulfilling his promise to block expansion of Sunshine Canyon Landfill, sanitation officials started to scramble for alternatives to dispose of the city's 3,500 tons of garbage a day.

City officials say it can be done - but it won't be cheap and it won't be easy.

``It's a real race to the finish here,'' Bureau of Sanitation Director Judith Wilson said in an interview.

Approval of Sunshine Canyon's expansion into Granada Hills last week means its operator, Browning-Ferris Industries, could break ground on the new portion of the dump by late summer.

While city leaders and nearly 100 neighbors came out to blast the project, waste regulators and industry insiders testified the expansion is needed to meet immediate disposal needs until they develop remote, desert dumps in five to 10 years.

Hahn still is pursuing a self-imposed ban on city trash at Sunshine Canyon and trying to block a proposed expansion at Bradley Landfill in Sun Valley, the only other landfill in the city.

``If the mayor is going to say he wants to close the landfills in the city then he has to come up with a very diverse program to handle the waste,'' said Mike Mohajer, who recently retired as assistant deputy director for Los Angeles County Department of Public Works.

Wilson said the city is doing that, and sanitation officials are meeting every two weeks to plot out the future of L.A.'s trash. In August, the bureau expects to accept bids on hauling trash to dumps outside the city. Local refuse could end up in Riverside and Orange counties.

And the department is trying to site transfer stations - facilities for sorting recyclables from trash - throughout the city, including one in the East Valley and one in the West Valley, to reduce the overall amount of refuse going to dumps.

``Frankly, the price of leaving Sunshine Canyon is, we have to have a transfer station in each of our wastesheds,'' Wilson said.

That added sorting cost, plus the extra gas mileage and disposal fees, will undoubtedly bump up residents' trash bills, but city officials say they don't know how much.

L.A. now pays $23 a ton to truck trash directly to Sunshine Canyon. Trash collected in south central and north central Los Angeles goes through a transfer station to bring the per ton cost to $43.

Another cost factor will be a garbage market that industry insiders say is getting tighter and more expensive.

``There is capacity in Southern California if you're willing to pay for it,'' Mohajer said. ``If you're willing to pay $50, $60, $100 (a ton), no problem.''

Los Angeles County is close to producing more trash than it can dispose of, with Chiquita Canyon in Newhall, Puente Hills in Whittier and Sunshine Canyon landfills all generally reaching their daily intake limits each day. Instead, the county is sending an increasing amount of trash to Riverside, Orange and Ventura counties. That means more trucks driving farther, added fuel costs and air pollution.

That pressure would certainly lighten at Sunshine Canyon in 2006 since city trash now takes up the bulk of the landfill space each day. Plus the new city side of the landfill has almost all of its permits and operators hope to break ground this summer.

Puente Hills Landfill in Whittier - the largest dump in the nation and one with the lowest ``tipping'' (dumping) fees - reaches its limit by 10:30 a.m. most days. That doesn't affect L.A. because the dump is closed to city trash.

The Los Angeles County Sanitation District, which operates Puente Hills, banned city refuse from the dump 20 years ago when the City Council closed another dump in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Out-of-county dumps carry their own risks, said Carlos Ruiz, assistant division engineer with county Department of Public Works.

``We wouldn't control our own destiny,'' he said. ``Other jurisdictions can place restrictions on that waste or place host fees that are prohibitive.''

In the long run, the city aims to increase recycling and divert up to 70 percent of its trash from disposal. But officials still have to dump the leftover trash somewhere.

County officials are looking to use trains to haul trash to remote, desert landfills. Mesquite Regional Landfill in Imperial County is fully permitted and expected to open in 2008, but cities must develop materials recovery facilities or sorting operations to remove recyclables before they can send the leftover garbage to the landfill.

The city of Los Angeles has an agreement with the county Sanitation District - which owns Mesquite Landfill - to develop the required sorting facilities.

However, Wilson said, at $60 to $70 a ton, rail hauling may still be too expensive. Instead, the city is hiring a consultant to study alternatives to landfills, such as systems to turn garbage into gas.

``There's no doubt there will have to be some increase (in fees). The question is how much,'' said Deputy Mayor Brian Williams.

``We know either way it goes, the city is not going to place any more trash in Sunshine Canyon in 2006.''